THE ETHICS OF THE ANCIENT 263 



common mass of Greeks may be inferred from the 

 fact that philosophers like Aristotle taught that 

 'slaves were simply domestic animals possessed 

 of intelligence.' It is this fact, this utter lack ol 

 justice and humanity manifested by the Greeks in 

 their treatment of non- Hellenic mankind, which 

 gives to Greek * civilisation' its seamy side. Greek 

 society has been appropriately likened to a pyra- 

 mid, its apex gleaming with light and splendour, 

 while its base was sunk in darkness. 



Non- Romans were called 'barbarians' also by 

 the Romans, and were considered by the Romans 

 to be an entirely different order of beings from 

 themselves. Any splinter of a Roman was, 

 according to the Romans, superior to the most 

 illustrious 'barbarian.' Men were not treated 

 nor estimated according to their intrinsic quali- 

 ties, but wholly as to whether they were or were 

 not * Roman citizens.' To be a ' Roman citizen * 

 was to be entitled to everything ; to be a ' barbarian' 

 was not to be entitled to anything necessarily, 

 except to serve in some way the all-glorious 

 Romans. The elaborate legal and ethical codes 

 formulated by these masters of the Mediterranean 

 were reserved religiously for themselves. The 

 business of the ' barbarians ' was to furnish fields 

 for pillage and conquest, to impart magnitude to 

 triumphal pageants, to act as slaves, and to die 

 by ignominiously butchering each other for the 

 amusement of their bloodthirsty masters. ' Bar- 

 barian ' lands were looked upon simply as game- 

 preserves where ambitious captains from the Tiber 



